Workers Revolutionary Party

The Workers Revolutionary Party (WRP) is a Trotskyist political party in the United Kingdom which was founded in 1947 by Gerry Healy and Josh Lawrence. The WRP originated as "The Club", a group of communists who sought to use entryist tactics to infiltrate and take over the Labour Party. In 1959, the Club morphed into the "Socialist Labour League", which united Trotskyists, trade unionists, and anti-Stalinist former CPGB members. The Labour Party proscribed the SLL, forbidding any of the SLL's members from being party members. The SLL formed the All-Trade Unions Alliance, supporting the replacement of the police with a workers' militia. In 1973, the SLL renamed itself to the "Workers Revolutionary Party". During the mid-1970s, party membership declined due to the party's high work demands. In 1977, the party and Libyan officials issued a joint statement against Zionism, US imperialism, and the Egyptian president Anwar Sadat. The Libyan and Iraqi governments funded the WRP's paper, News Line, causing controversy during the early 1980s. In 1985, the WRP expelled Gerry Healy and its famous members Corin and Vanessa Redgrave, accusing them of deviating from the Trotskyist path to socialism. The party went on to fragment, destroying any real power it held.